NGP VAN unveils latest mobile app

NGP VAN has unveiled the newest version of its mobile app, which it touts for having saved its customers time and money.

Canvassers are increasingly going door-to-door with iPhones or tablets instead of paper walk sheets. The company's app, which was dubbed MiniVAN, was designed with that in mind. It allows canvassers to "enter data into their device as they talk to people on their list, and then upload their data back to the VAN with the touch of a button," according to a release.

NGP VAN unveiled MiniVAN 7 for iOS phones and tables on Monday, noting that mobile is increasingly the way to log voter contacts.

"There were about 19 million contact attempts made on MiniVAN over the 2012 cycle. That’s about 4.5 percent of all contact attempts logged into VAN over the same period. Around 440 million," the company said on its blog.

Moreover, it cited a 2011 case study, wherein its clients switched from paper canvassing and paid data entry to MiniVAN iOS. That resulted in bad address error rates dropping from 5.7 percent to 2.5 percent and the clients were able to get away from paying for data entry.

"MiniVAN allows Democrats to seamlessly connect with voters in their community face-to-face with the touch of a button using any internet connection, spending less time on data entry and more time talking to voters.” Andrew Brown, director of technology for the DNC, stated.